The families of three Crete Township girls who were killed in a hit-and-run accident in May 1996 say they have endured difficult times since their losses, and news that the man responsible for the deaths will leave prison early only adds to the pain.

According to Illinois Department of Corrections officials, Richard Devon, 44, is being granted an early release from the state's minimum-security prison in Menard by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for what state officials describe as exceptionally good behavior.

Devon, who was convicted in October 1997 of leaving the scene of the accident that killed Cari Sanaghan, 11, Sheena Acres, 12, and Courtney Lauer, 12, will be released from prison next Thursday after serving one year of a 2 1/2-year sentence for the crime.

"Christmas is bad enough without my daughter and now this; it's unbelievable," said Joni Acres, mother of Sheena.

"We're all very upset by this," said Cari Sanaghan's twin sister, Sarah, 14.

Normally, prisoners get one day off their sentence for every day of good behavior, but in cases where a person has been convicted of a minor felony and is a model prisoner, the Prison Review Board has the option of subtracting an additional 90 days from their sentence, Department of Correction officials said.

However, Devon's spotless prison record and the fact that he had no convictions before the hit-and-run accident does not impress the families of the girls who lost their lives when Devon's sport-utility vehicle hit them on a dark, narrow stretch of Burville Road in Crete Township more than 2 1/2 years ago.

The fact that he is being released at least three months earlier than normal for a crime that the families believe should have had a stiffer prison sentence to begin with is "like a slap in the face," said Julianna Lauer, mother of Courtney.

Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Nic Howell said, "The guy didn't get into trouble the whole time that we had him in our custody." Howell added that it was not unusual for offenders convicted of less serious crimes, such as a hit-and-run, to be released from prison earlier than usual for good behavior.

Devon's offense, for failing to report an accident involving a death or injury, was, at the time of his conviction by a jury, a Class 4 felony, the least serious of felonies.

After the accident, Lauer, Acres and Cyndie Sanaghan, mother of Cari, traveled to Springfield to lobby for tougher hit-and-run laws. As a result of their efforts, the state legislature in late 1997 passed legislation drafted by Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow that makes leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death a more serious crime, from a Class 4 felony to a Class 2 felony that carries a penalty of between 3 and 14 years in prison.

After his release, Devon, the father of three children and a self-employed heating and plumbing contractor, will serve one year of supervision, state prison officials said.

Meanwhile, an appeal of Devon's conviction is pending. After his damaged sport-utility vehicle was found abandoned on Chicago's North Side and he was arrested, he pleaded innocent to the hit-and-run charge. A friend of his testified during his trial that Devon told him he didn't stop after the accident because he thought he had hit a deer.